I received a forwarded e-mail from an acquaintance not long ago which questioned the religious integrity of President Obama as well as making other negative points about him. I knew the e-mail was false, but checked it out on Snopes.com anyway. I replied to him and all his mailing list in a forward, bringing to their attention that the forwarded e-mail was false. I was surprised when some on his list sent me e-mails questioning my integrity or my knowledge of the facts.
For years I have tried to help people understand they should not forward a damaging e-mail or a political e-mail without checking it out. One needs to see if the facts contained therein are true or false. If someone forwards an e-mail containing false information it is tantamount to lying. It makes you a liar for you are spreading falsehoods. Internet e-mail has made liars of more Christians than anything the world has ever seen before. There has always been gossip which often did the same thing, but not to the extent of this internet gossip.
There are some who will not take the word of fact checking sites like Snopes, or the result of investigative reporting by the media. They become convinced that their false opinion is the truth and turn on anyone who challenges it. Such was the case of those who disliked my pointing out the falsehoods in the e-mail mentioned. This is particularly true in the realm of political debate. I am severely disappointed by the number of Christians, otherwise good people, who pass on political falsehoods. Christian integrity demands that we be careful to know the facts and stick to them.
Even better, the Christian imperative of love would lead us to heed what many of us were taught by our parents and Sunday School teachers, “If you can’t say anything good about someone, don’t say anything at all.”
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